A little while ago I was asked to take a photo of the Rochdale College on Bloor Steer West in Toronto. It is always a challenge to get the high buildings in the photo in their glory. I tried from the top floor of Tartu College, but it didn’t work out due to a really sharp angle, as the Tartu building was too far away.
Why it is so important for me to make a post about taking a photo of a building? First its history and second the architect who designed it.
The 18-storey tower that once housed Rochdale at 341 Bloor Street is now known as the Senator David A. Croll Apartments. Completed in 1968, it is the sister building to the Tartu student residence a short distance west across Bloor street. Designed by the architects Elmar Tampõld and John Wells (who had earlier constructed the Charles Street Apartments at Bay Street and Bloor Street).
Elmar Tampõld was an Estonian, who also designed Tartu College, which is now a very successful co-op run by a small group of Estonians, with an archive, Estonian Studies Centre, library, and event spaces under the 18 floor dorm.
As an homage to its Rochdale days, the tower features the large Unknown Student sculpture out front.
Just read more about the building and its history from this article HERE, from 1980.
This is the best I got of Rochdale College:
